I am talking about guns like the Browning BAR and the Remington 7400 or the Steyr, or where legal the 50 BMG
What I want to know is how do guides feel and experienced hunters feel about the magazine. Is there any concern over the magazine falling out in the brush getting in the way or not being reliable in the field. How about it being faster to reload, hopeful you won't need to. Do some countries prefer not to allow those types of actions is the country. Thanks RNS
Posts: 767 | Location: Phoenix, Az | Registered: 31 May 2001
The only clip fed gun I hunt with now is a Mossberg bolt action rifled slug gun, as here in Illinois there is no centerfire rifles for deer. The first or second season I hunted with it I dropped the magazine and got a little dirt in the catch area, and while it latched tight enough to hold it in securely, after I fired it the recoil popped it free. So imagine my suprise on my second shot hearing just a click! Anyway, if it is all you have by all means use it, but the simpler a rifle is usually the more reliable it is.
Posts: 7763 | Location: Between 2 rivers, Middle USA | Registered: 19 August 2000
GeorgeS thanks and that is the kind of information I was looking for. Maybe I should have stated that I was only interested in a bolt gun with a removable mag not my first choice but so far the only thing that will work. Do the same rule apply for a bolt gun. Thanks RNS
Posts: 767 | Location: Phoenix, Az | Registered: 31 May 2001
I have a Steyr 458 Win Mag with the rotary magazine which I'll take to Zimbabwe next year. My son will use it to shoot cape buffalo and possibly lion, which ought to indicate the degree of trust I have in the rifle.
I've owned a couple of Steyrs and used a 375 H&H in Alaska when hunting bear.
I have never had the magazine jam or fail to feed properly on any of my Steyrs. And it has never shown an inclination to "fall out" while the rifle's being toted.
In fact, my 458 has a spare magazine fitted into the stock, so a second issue of ammo can be loaded in seconds, effectively providing double the magazine capacity.
I can't comment about the other rifles except for the BAR, which I have and would trust to function properly, if it could be taken along.
Posts: 1550 | Location: Native Texan Now In Jacksonville, Florida, USA | Registered: 10 July 2000
RNS, The only problems I see with detacthable magazines in a hunting rifle are #1 if they are not very well anchored in the rifle by very reliable locking devices, they are easy to loose. #2 most, that I'm aware of, cannot be loaded from the top while in the rifle, the exception being the Steyer bolt rifles, which CAN be loaded from the top, and are also a CRF rifles. Most of the rifles that have detachable magazines are PUSHFEED rifles, another drawback, in my opinion, especially, if coupled with a detachable magazine!
Magazines, of all types, are the source of many problems in the African bush, and require some attention before stepping out of the bakki in the Buffalo patch! Even on a Mauser type CRF, the floorplate should be very reliable under recoil, and feed flawlessly! The time to find this out is at home, not in the tall grass with a growler!
------------------ ..Mac >>>===(x)===> DUGABOY DESIGNS Collector/trader of fine double rifles, and African wildlife art
Posts: 14634 | Location: TEXAS | Registered: 08 June 2000
I like my Browning rifles very much and have had virtually no problems in regard to feeding reliability. Theirs is a "semi-detachable" box, with a moulded follower supported by a double scissor cantilever system, attached to a standard hinged floorplate, as secure as any. The floorplate must be lowered before the actual magazine box can be removed / replaced.
Removeable or clip type magazines are not my cup of tea...They have a bad habit of falling out at the most inopertune times and I see no advantage to them what so ever, unless your road hunting in Canada, and I normally don't hunt that way. I have no objection to anyone else using them.
I have been hunting with two different people who have lost their magazine while hunting. One was a Browning BAR magazine which was taken out when he was getting in the vehicle. He left the magazine sitting on the truck, which disappeared when the truck was moved.
The other was a Remington 788. While shooting, using a tree limb as support the magazine came out. Luckily he realized it, and found it or the hunt would have been over.
I really don't care for them. I did own one once. It was a .375 H&H Colt Sauer I used on a Buffalo and Lichtenstein Hartebeest in Zambia back in 1980. Never really liked that rifle. Aesthetically (SP?), I think they detract from the classic lines I have learned to appreciate. The protrusion of a jagged piece of metal from the bottom of an otherwise classic bolt action is just too ugly. As Ray alluded to, road hunters love them. You just press a button or throw a lever and presto, you are unloaded. Rich Elliott
------------------ Ethiopian Rift Valley Safaris
Posts: 2013 | Location: Crossville, IL 62827 USA | Registered: 07 February 2001
I've only had one experience with a detachable magazine. I was home from on leave from the military during deer season in Pennsylvania and borrowed a friends Rem 760 pump. The morning of the 2nd day I was getting ready to leave camp in the darkness to go to my tree stand and reached in my pant's pocket to make sure I had a round for the chamber and patted my jacket pocket to make sure I had a magazine (I don't load to I get to the stand). Once I got to my stand I loaded the single round into the chamber and reached in my pocket for the magazine and the lump I had felt turned out to be a Snickers Bar of chocolate. Fortunately ho buck came by. I guess I'm just to dumb for a rifle with a magazine.
Also, congrats for all of you who used the correct terminology...they are magazines, not clips. Clips are something that holds loaded rounds prior to loading...as in "stripper clips" etc. They are not inserted into a rifle or pistol and left there. My old sgt would love you.
Posts: 4360 | Location: Sunny Southern California | Registered: 22 May 2002
I should have made it clear that I was speaking of the "A-Bolt" detachable magazine, which can not be discerned aesthetically and can not "fall out". It can, however be replaced in a fraction of the time required to reload a "standard" magazine. I don't expect to gain any converts with my views but I do appreciate ALL types of sound engineering principles, especially in the area of firearms design.
[This message has been edited by Nickudu (edited 08-24-2001).]
GeorgeS, Hey! Finally some support! Pretty tough getting any interest in A-Bolt rifles around these parts. I suppose the fact that Browning does not offer anything larger than .375 has something to do with the lack of interest, after all, they do make LH models. In my view, there are many very well thought out design features incorporated in this rifle. I really wish people would take a good hard look at it, when possible. I am presently on the hunt for a used "Stainless Stalker" rifle, in .375, on which to build my next .458 Lott.
Nickudu: How the heck do you take the barrel off a SS Browning A-bolt? My experience is that it's a good way to trash a rifle; they use some kind of thread locking compound or just gall them.
NIck, Sometimes it is necessary to make a mill cut at the action on the barrel in order to remove a barrel and it ruins the factory barrel for all practicle purposes but a used barrel ain't much of a loss any way you cut it...
Right you are Ray. I doubt it will come to that, however. Much can be done with torch and freezer! In the past, I've had to cut a few barrels right off flush , bore them out thin and then carefully collapse the remnant threads inward. Most of the threading compounds will loose their properties via alternate warming and freezing over a day or so and come apart rather easily. One can opt to submerge the action in light oil or water if there is any risk of overheating.
Nick, Actually, I HATED that rifle Terrible trigger (even after adjusting), it came from the factory with the barrel channel and magazine well unsealed (three coats of spar varnish took care of that), the barrel was too thin (accuracy would go to hell by the third shot from a now HOT barrel), and the barrel needed a lot of upward pressure at the forearm tip before it would shoot anything resembling a group! After a lot of load development and aggravation, I got it to shoot, but I never trusted that rifle.
I sold it and am sticking with Winchester, Remington, Savage, Weatherby, et al.
George
------------------ Shoot straight, shoot often, but by all means, use enough gun!
Posts: 14623 | Location: San Antonio, TX | Registered: 22 May 2001
I have used a Browning A-Bolt in .338 for 18 years with no problems. Keeping a loaded second magazine in my pants pocket is much more efficient than having a shell holder attached to my belt.
Two trips to the dark continent and hundreds of days in N.A. have only increased my love for John Browning.
A few years ago I bought a Remington M 700 in .338 WM and it came with a detachable box magazine. I have hunted all over NA with that gun and I love it...and I like the drop out magazine. It has proven to be extremely reliable. For a long time I had the fear that I would loose the magazine or that it would somehow come loose and fall off the gun. Neither has happened. I just pay attention to it...like I pay attention to my wallet, the keys to my truck, my out of state elk tags, and my passport when overseas. I see nothing wrong with a detachable box magazine.
Pretty tough getting any interest in A-Bolt rifles around these parts. I suppose the fact that Browning does not offer anything larger than .375 has something to do with the lack of interest, after all, they do make LH models. 
Terrible trigger (even after adjusting), it came from the factory with the barrel channel and magazine well unsealed (three coats of spar varnish took care of that), the barrel was too thin (accuracy would go to hell by the third shot from a now HOT barrel), and the barrel needed a lot of upward pressure at the forearm tip before it would shoot anything resembling a group!
